


R.A.B, Little Brother

by RArcturusBlack



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-07-01 13:46:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RArcturusBlack/pseuds/RArcturusBlack
Summary: Regulus Black has just started his 4th year at Hogwarts, but with the Wizarding War already 5 years in, students are taking sides and his family's politics are influencing them. Can Regulus keep his head above it all or will he slowly drown from the pressure?





	1. A Prince?

  


3rd September 1975

Black. Blackness all around, the sound of a train whistle. Then the sudden judder of the brakes being released and the Hogwarts express started to pull out of the station. The cheering and tearful goodbyes started to reach his ears and he pulled his wizard cloak off his head enough to peer out the window. There were the stony faces of his parents seeing them off. They were both dressed in black, a high and mighty air in their posture. Only the other noble families were surrounding them, but at least they were smiling as they saw their children off, not to be seen again until Christmas. Orion Black stood close behind his wife, but not touching her. Walburga had her hands clasped firmly in front of her, making no move to wave to her two sons. Soon the steam clouded their view out of the window and Regulus put the cloak back over his head.

His mother and father were not happy with him for having defended his brother in yet another family gathering. Regulus had made the point that they had already disowned Sirius enough so the fact that they were keeping up these pretenses that Sirius was still heir was stupid and that they should announce that they had changed it to himself. That had earned him a back-handed strike from his father. A shout of outcry from his mother and for Sirius to slink off to his room from where he had been watching from the doorway; not to be seen from until they were travelling to get the train three days later.

The compartment door opens and a familiar voice asks Sirius if he wants to move into the next train carriage. It’s James Potter. His older brother’s best friend. Regulus receives a light kick to his shin and he pulls the cloak down once again.  
“What’s up?”  
“I’m off Reg, don’t do anything stupid, study for your exams and steer clear of ‘those’ nobles okay?” Sirius pats him on the shoulder as he gets up, James has a hold of his case.  
“That’s it? That’s all you are going to say to me? After I defended you?!”  
“What do you want me to say Reg? thanks for taking the blow off of father instead?”  
“No obviously not I-”  
"Then, please. Don't. Don't take the heat for me again. You are my little brother and I care for you, but I can't help you if you get on mother and father's bad side" He sighs and ruffles Regulus' hair.  
“Sirius…” He whines and scrunches his face but makes no move to stop him; secretly enjoying the short moment of sibling normality and human interaction.  
“Be good okay?” Sirius looks doubtful, but he doesn’t air his worry and concern. Instead, he promptly leaves the compartment and doesn't turn to look back to wait for an answer or say goodbye.  
“okay…” Reg whispers as he looks out the window, the English countryside speeding by. He hears the door closing shut again. James exiting silently to follow Sirius, leaving Regulus alone with his thoughts.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next thing he knew it was dark outside and he was being jerked awake by the train pulling into Hogsmeade station. Students were already clambering to get off the train and onto the carriages that were charmed to pull themselves. The first years were being corralled by Hagrid, the gamekeeper, to be taken across the loch to the castle.  
Regulus gets up and starts to make his way towards the line waiting for the carriages. He spots his brother and his three friends climbing into one and set off, he doesn’t even look in his direction, too focused on whatever Lupin is saying to him. Regulus liked Remus, he was the smartest of his brother’s friends and certainly tried to keep them all out of trouble. Unless he wanted to be in on one of their stupid schemes; then he was a force to be reckoned with. 

Reg spots Severus a bit away from him with Lily Evans, a girl with whom he’s been childhood friends with. As he moves closer he can hear the two talking about home, Severus seems upset and Lily puts a reassuring pat on his shoulder. Regulus still couldn’t understand why Snape was still friends with her, she was a mud-blood and a Gryffindor, then again, the same could be said about himself still wanting to talk to his brother, a blood traitor now, so who was he to judge. As Reg pulls up beside Snape, they stop talking abruptly, and Evans turns to leave but not before giving a curt nod of greetings to him, they were in the Slug Club together after all and he would be damned if he was ever shown not to be mannerful at all times, regardless of what he and his family thought of mud-bloods and muggles, Lily Evans was certainly bright, and he admired that considering her background. 

“everything okay Severus?” Black asked quietly as they enter a carriage with some Slytherin second year girls. One seems to show a particular fondness in him, but he pays her no mind.  
“It’s fine, I’m fine.” He hung his head, not speaking a word as they rode up to the castle. When they reached the front door, he excused himself to the bathroom, his face barely shown through his thick limp locks of black hair. Regulus just watches his friend scurry away from him until he disappears around the corner to the main toilets.

As he enters the Great Hall, he scans the behemoth room as he enters the main doors. On his furthest right is the Gryffindor table, then the Hufflepuff, in the centre at the end of the hall is the teachers' table. A huge throne where Dumbledore, the headmaster sits, is directly in the middle. McGonagall is already in her seat to the left of the throne. She watches as the older students file in, waiting for the moment the new first years will arrive so she can collect them for sorting. Next is the Ravenclaw’s table and finally on the left is the Slytherin table.

Regulus can hear a heated rant being said from the Gryffindor table. The Irish lilt to the voice is unmistakable and is making no means to speak quietly, typical.  
“- me mam is furious, so she is! Blames Maggie for aula this, just before-a left fir London there was a gun attack in Tullyvallen. Five proddies were killed. Me mam said it’s a shame tha-”  
Behind him, Regulus tunes into another, slightly better conversation happening at the Ravenclaw table as he slowly passes by due to the sheer volume of students trying to get to their houses and peers.  
“That Scargill couple made it back you know?” a boy says, “I heard they cycled 18,020 miles around the world! That’s insane” exclaims the girl on his right, “Dad wants to ask them why they didn’t just fly to places instead”  
“Apparently it’s because they wanted to try muggle inventions-”  
Reg continues between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables eventually finding a spot with the other forth years.  
Avery, Mulciber, and Wilkes are all a little bit further up the table from him. They were the nobles that his brother had warned him about earlier. Fifth years. Most likely will join their parents soon in ties with the Dark Lord. Regulus had overheard many a discussion at the family gathering. Things he really shouldn't have, but it had armed him with enough information to keep his head above water. For now. 

By the time Regulus had gotten settled in his seat, most of the students had come in and sat down. Soon a tall bearded man stood on the raised stage. A stone lecture with the carving of an owl in flight was placed in front of him, seemingly rising like water to solidify and stand as if it had not been moved in a millennium. Dumbledore. An imposing figure. An excellent and well-respected wizard. An enemy of the Dark Lord. His Headmaster.

Dumbledore looks out upon the students and addresses the hall.  
“Students, another summer has come and gone. I hope that you have all prepared once again for another year of learning. Very soon we will be welcoming our new first years into this hallowed hall. I trust that we shall treat them well, show them the way, teach them our rules and bolster them with knowledge” His voice is soft and lilting, but still strong and powerful.  
He claps his hands and the enchanted candles above shine a bit brighter, as the doors open and McGonagall starts marching the new first years down the hall in-between the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs. The sorting ceremony begins. This year seems to be mainly Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, a few Gryffindors and even fewer Slytherins. Not surprising since the outbreak of the War on Lord Voldemort had now been going on for about five years. Many parents were wary of their children joining either of the Gryffindor or Slytherin houses if they did not already have family ties to them, but sometimes the house chooses you and you can’t escape your fate. Can you?

At that, Dumbledore raises his hands for everyone to join him in the singing of the school anthem. A silver ribbon flows from his wand with the lyrics embroidered and shinning.  
“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff, For now, they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot”

As the anthem has no set tune, it is often a cats choir of many different tempos, tunes, and keys. Yet every year it seemed to be getting more sombre, where folk normally would be laughing towards the end this had been the worst rendition to date, and certainly, for the older students, it was felt more so than ever. Reg just wanted to take his mind off this now, where on earth was Severus?

Dumbledore seemed to not have noticed, or at the very least pretended to and says  
“Welcome to Hogwarts, now let the feast Begin!”  
Soon the once bare and empty tables are now filled to the brim with meats, veg, condiments, and cakes. Black starts to load his place with potatoes, some slices of honeyed ham and gravy. As he is passing the gravy to another student he notices that Snape has sneaked his way back into the Hall. He beckons over to him, indicating that he had saved Severus a seat, but Sev sits further up the table in-between Avery and Mulciber. Since when were they friends? Wasn’t he going to explain why he had been away for so long in the bathroom at least? Or that hushed talk with Evans? Reg felt miffed and slighted at this dismissal on Sev’s part, so decided to take his anger out on some boiled potatoes. What a great start to the year this was ending up to be.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After dinner, Regulus took a slow and meandering pace to the Slytherin dormitories. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with the jostling of the other students trying to clamber down the narrow spiral staircase and to fight for the best seats in the common room.

Severus had left promptly after dinner with Avery, Mulciber, and Wilkes. They had been talking quietly together the whole time. Sev didn’t even bother to look in Reg’s direction the entire meal. Had something happened over summer? Was Reg to blame? They had written letters to one another and everything had seemed fine? 

Regulus finally reached the Slytherin Door. The corridor was empty and quiet. Only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling slowly and echoing off the walls could be heard.  
Regulus stopped and faced the wall. There was a statue of a snake that curled itself on a dais. Its eyes were inlaid with Rubies and the fire lanterns made them sparkle and dance.  
"Paassssswordd?" It hissed. The sound of carrying down the corridor.  
Shit. New Year. New Password; and Reg didn’t know it.  
“Um… Pureblood?”  
“Guesssss again”  
“Err… Salazar?”  
“Guesssss again.” It was slightly irritated now. If statues could be.  
“I don’t know, Cunning? Emerald? Ambitious?”  
“Guesssss Again.”  
“Goddammit. Royalty?!” He was getting frustrated now and just wanted to go to bed. The corridor was cold and damp and he was not in the mood to argue with the bloody door.  
“OH! Baron!”  
“Guesssss AGAIN”  
“Oh for Merlin’s sake” Regulus pulled out his wand and pointed it at the snake’s Ruby eye.  
“I am Regulus Arcturus Black; member of the Sacred Pure-Blood family and I demand that you let me into the Common Room at once!”  
His voice reverberated off the stones. It went quiet. He paused, starting to wonder if that would really work at all. Then the stone slab slid back and to the side, opening for him.  
“Yessssss… your Highness.”  
Regulus marched his way inside and down the flight of steps that opened up into the common room. He spotted a group of first years and made a beeline for them.  
“What’s the password this year?!” he barked at the group.  
They squeaked. He would have found that funny if he hadn’t been so mad.  
“It’d. It’s Serpent!” one pipped up.  
“Thank you.” Regulus then turned on his heel and headed for his room. 

It was only when he had fallen back onto his bed that he had realised the snake statue had called him ‘Your Highness’ and that the common room had gone eerily quiet when he had entered, knowing fully well that it was normally loud and rowdy from everyone catching up with one another from the holidays.  
How peculiar.  
His dorm was also empty. He hadn’t seen his roommates all evening either; three empty beds, where normally sat three reasonably studious boys who were usually hunkered down for the night by now. How strange.

Regulus decided to go get ready for bed. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with whatever was happening in the common room today or with just today in general. As he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth he thought he saw his brother for a split second as he passed one of the mirrors. Their resemblance was getting more noticeable. The black curled hair that came to their shoulders, the angular faces, and strong jawlines. Regulus was still more baby-faced than his brother, whose high cheekbones made him sought after by most of the students. His eyes were the most noticeably different, where his brothers were a steely cold grey-blue, like mothers, his where darker brown and green like fathers. Unlike Sirius though Reg was smaller in frame and thin. Not as rake-like looking as Snape was mind you, but certainly wasn’t going to win a fist fight anytime soon. He should probably do something about that if he wanted to try out for the Quidditch team this year. 

He curled up under his covers after drawing the four-poster curtains closed around him. They were a beautiful emerald green, made of plush velvet and silver trim. Adorning each post was a carved snake that wound its way up each corner of the bed. The headboard had ornate trim and the whole piece was made of a dark coloured walnut. The pillows were duck and goose feather and the sheets of emerald and silver were Egyptian cotton. Of course, this was from parents’ donations to the Slytherin household and not the standard bedding for the other houses. Only the best for Purebloods, naturally. He nodded off quickly, the stress of home, the journey to Hogwarts and the feast finally all catching up to him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regulus walks into the common-room that morning searching for Severus Snape. Both boys normally rose up early so they could get breakfast together and go over classes, notes etc. He was there. Waiting.  
“Severus! Where were you? Where did you go last night?”  
“My god Reg, are you okay? Did you win?”  
“I’m fine, wait. Win? Win what?” He was confused, what on earth was Sev talking about?  
Severus just looked a mixture of flabbergasted and nervous. He took Regulus’ wrist and started pulling him quickly to the Great Hall.  
“Come on. There is so much I need to tell you.”

They both make their way over to the predominately empty Slytherin table and sit down on the same side, backs to the Ravenclaw table that was already half full with eager students.  
“Okay so please fill me in? what on earth is happening?” Reg says before they have even settled in their seats. Severus leans in close in case anyone tries to listen in.  
“Well… where to start really? Rabastan Lestrange, you know the 3rd year, wants to have a wizard’s duel with either yourself or Sirius for the title of ‘Prince of Slytherin’ since well you know… only true purebloods from the coveted twenty-eighth families can challenge for it and-” as he’s saying this the boys load their plates with breakfast.  
"Wait. that old tradition? Are you being serious? What’s Lestrange thinking bringing back that old relic, we haven’t had a Prince or ‘Heir’ since the-” Reg does a quick glance around before whispering “Chamber was opened; and even then if the other students or the teachers caught wind of such talk… it's not worth it."  
Snape is scarfing down some link sausages and points his fork at Reg “Try telling that to him. His older brother and your cousin are apparently a huge influence”  
He sighs “That I can believe, neither Rodolphus nor Bella are the most stable family members. Bella is obsessed to another level about purity and considers our family the highest tier of Royalty. Second to the Gaunts of course but no-one has heard from them in ages. So that leaves the Lestrange as third Trueblood family. Even then Sirius has always been considered the Heir by default so why the sudden-" the realisation dawned on him. He stares into the middle distance.  
“What? What is it Regulus?” Snape bends his head more into Black’s eyeline to get his attention. His lank hair almost touching the scrambled eggs on his plate.  
“Of course; the family meeting. There were talks of myself becoming heir to the Black family instead. Mother and Father refused. So that's created an unstable situation. If Sirius doesn't take the position and I my parents have refused me then…"  
“Bellatrix is next in line as the eldest daughter” It was Snape’s turn to stare at his breakfast plate in horror. Now realising the danger that it would put them in.  
"Her influence would be extreme, volatile. An inside job to strike Dumbledore from within his own walls, using his own students against him. It's pure genius… but of course, she can't do it so it's up to Rabastan instead”  
“It’s a powder keg”  
“A powder keg indeed”  
The boys sit in silence as they eat the rest of their breakfast. Snape purses his lips as if he were unsure to ask something, the Slytherin table now mostly filled with other students. Black stands up and drains the rest of his orange juice. Snape grabs at his friends' robe.  
“What are you going to do?”  
“Whatever I need to.”  
Snape lets go of Black’s robe; shocked at how resolute and powerful his friend had looked and sounded at that moment. The sudden aura he had exuded. There was no doubt of the Black family’s power and influence, but sometimes it was jarring for Snape to see it come from shy, kind-hearted Regulus Black.

.


	2. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lead up to the fight between Regulus and Rabastan, will Sirius help his little brother win?

Chapter 2

 

After leaving Severus at breakfast, he had gone looking for Sirius in the hopes that he could convince him to ‘knock some sense’ into the Lestrange boy. In terms of physical appearance Rabastan was at least 3 inches taller than himself and built much stockier than either of the two brothers, but Sirius would have the upper hand by definitely being stronger than Rabastan.

As he made his way to the general direction of the Gryffindor common-room, he spotted Lily Evans with a handful of her girl-friends.  
“Ms Evan’s!” she turned at her name, ginger curls bouncing to frame her face.  
“Mr Black? What can I help you with?” he quickly walks towards her, satchel hitting his right leg heavily from the burden of books.  
“My brother, have you perchance seen him?”  
“Not this morning, no sorry” Lily smiled fondly at him.  
“Well please if you do see him, tell him to meet me in the library tonight after supper. It is a matter of grave importance”  
“Grave importance? Regulus if there is anything I can do? ... you are not being bullied, are you? Because if so, I can talk to a teacher or-” He bristled at the thought that Ms. Evans thought him to be weak enough to be bullied.  
“NO… no this is a serious family matter involving our cousin.” His tone was a bit sharp and the girls took note.  
“Ah. I see. Well I shall be sure to let him know then” She responded curtly.   
Regulus tried to soften his approach before replying “Please and Thank you, Ms Evans… it’s just… I’m worried about what this situation means for Sirius”   
Lily seemed to buy the act enough that she smiled sweetly again.  
“Yes of course, I’ll let him know as soon as I see him”  
“Thank you, Ms. Evans”  
They parted ways and Regulus headed straight for the Library to find books on duelling and possibly some potentially nasty hexes he could use on Rabastan. He knew that if it came to it this would be a dirty fight. One he must not lose. 

His classes were full of new challenges and lessons, but even more so full of the Slytherin’s whispers and stares. Regulus just kept his head down. The last thing he wanted was more attention to the matter.   
Thankfully his roommate Eridanus Travers was in many of the same classes as him and rebuffed the few people that attempted to question the situation further.  
Travers was tall and well-muscled for his age with brown hair and brown eyes. A strong jawline and a constant smirk made him fairly handsome and he probably would be more of a hit with the girls if he wasn’t so awkward. Black was thankful that Travers was intelligent enough not to ask questions himself, but he also knew that come tonight in the dorm it would be a different story. All three of his dormmates would be pondering the politics of the situation and who best to stand with. Though family ties and loyalties were one thing, not backing either candidate when you came from a more prolific family was also a dangerous power play.   
The Slytherin house was full of wealthy children from the ministry, businesses’ and the sacred 28. How everyone coped with these ‘school playground’ politics would reflect on how they will handle being heirs to their family dealings later on in life. Fail here and you could lose out on titles, wealth and jobs. It was something that everyone feared; only making them all the more ruthless for it.

Lunch only seemed to heighten these issues as the Slytherin table was at unrest. Word had spread fast it seemed. Rabastan was unabashfully gloating at the turmoil he had caused, drawing in the younger housemates to his reverie and proclaiming that he would undoubtedly win. Older students huddled in small groups discussing the pros and cons of the two candidates. On one hand, Lestrange was an excellent fighter and fairly charismatic but would be a terrible leader (if you didn’t know that it would be Bellatrix pulling the strings) and on the other hand, Regulus Black had never been seen to duel or even fight with anyone but was incredibly intelligent and already considered to be royalty by blood. It was a tricky situation. Regulus was already seated a bit further down the table from Rabastan’s rabble and was flanked on either side by Eridanus Travers and Thorfinn Rowle. Across from him sat Pictor Dolohov. The three boys were his dormmates and he trusted them wholeheartedly. Though together they were a mismatch to look at. Travers was a classic athlete, wicked smart but terrible at conversation; Rowle was a blonde haired, baby blue-eyed henchman that thought with his fists and Dolohov was reminiscent of a weasel animagus with his weedy stature, pale skin and dark brown hair. He was an excellent source for the rumour mill and had many connections with unlikely people throughout the school. Yet the boys had been with each other from first year and despite their oddities were a close-knit group.   
“Reg, what on earth is happening?” Pictor leaned in from across the table, his watery light blue eyes searching for an answer in Black’s face. The other boys nodded in agreement.  
“Well, Lestrange is claiming the crown. Simple as that” Regulus was picking at his tuna sandwich and trying hard to keep focused on the conversation. Things had already spiralled out of control.  
“You mean the ‘Prince of Slytherin’ bullshit, right?” proclaimed Thorfinn. Shovelling another sandwich into his gob. Geez, that boy could eat.   
“Yes you big oft, keep it down” hissed Eridanus “that ‘shit’ is forbidden after the last fiasco”  
“You mean that girl dying in the bathroom. We all know that filthy half-breed in the woods that was the one who did it. Tom Riddle was Heir to Slytherin at the time and Hagrid hated that. So when it was said that the chamber would only open for the Heir of Slytherin, well people pieced it together from there” Pictor said nonchalantly.  
“Mm. Which leaves me in a difficult position. My brother should be the one to challenge him for his insolence, but with Sirius being a Gryffindor-”   
“AND practically disowned as the Heir of the Black family” sniggered Pictor which earned a sharp look from Reg.  
“THAT particular matter is still not set in stone Dolohov. But regardless if I let that little snake wriggle his way to the top, we will have bigger problems”  
“So challenge him already?” Rowle said, mouth full of food.  
“It's not as simple as that. Regulus needs to ensure victory, yes, but it’s the challenge that comes after. Of ruling over this house, yet not letting any of the teachers catch wind of it. Keeping the fragile peace that we have in this school compared to the war outside… then there is the matter of our parents. What this power play means for us when they find out.” Travers stated matter of fact. The boys sighed collectively.  
“I hadn’t put much thought to that side of things, I wonder what my cousin would think?” Dolohov mused.  
“You tell your cousin nothing Pictor. Same as I will be keeping own cousin out of this. Do you understand me?” Regulus was sharp in his tone and raised slightly out of his seat towards the boy. Pictor shrank back. Eyes to the floor, before he smirked “Yes… your highness”   
“You asshole” Black laughed back. 

 

After dinner, Regulus excused himself to the library taking the books he had found on hexes and duelling with him from this morning. The corridors were quiet with most students eager to sleep after their first day back to classes. It was decorated in dark cherrywood and intricate carvings of the four founding houses mascots. Beautiful brass plaques hung overhead naming each of the different sections and in the middle of the larger hallway were huge oak tables that were used for studying and group projects. The floorboards were worn down from the centuries of students using the place and the sound of people moving in here was dampened by the thick castle walls. It was well-lit atrium from sconces and Lumos charms. Regulus breathed in the familiar musky scent of old books and wood; it comforted him as this was the place he felt most at home. Surrounded by knowledge and like-minded individuals, it was a place where he was truly safe and no-one judged him for who he was.

The library itself was fairly busy with older years already assigned reading material for the exams. Predominately Ravenclaws but a few flashes of green and yellow could be seen flitting through the bookcases. No one paid Mr Black any mind as he found his way to the quieter fiction section of the library. This was where they housed the books used for muggle studies and for general light reading. It was also where Sirius and his gang tended to hang out since Lupin was always adding new works to the collection. Regulus hunkered down into one of the plush chairs next to the window and waited. 

He was about halfway through reading about a particularly useful hex when a knock came from the side of the bookcase that hid him from the main library corridors. A figure came around the corner and leaned against the shelf. He was dressed in black combat boots, black skinny jeans and a Gryffindor jumper. His arms were folded but he was facing Regulus.  
“So, baby brother, Lily says your in trouble?” Sirius smirked and took a book down off the shelf from beside him, flicking through the pages. “Can’t even leave you for a day? Really?” His black curls were tied back into a loose ponytail away from his face, only accentuating his high cheekbones and jawline that showed the start of a beard. It wasn’t fair. There were less than two years between them age-wise, but already Sirius seemed to have matured much faster than himself. At least physically.  
“Trouble is one way of putting it. Rabastan is vying for the crown. Backed by Bella and Rolph because you being Heir to the Black family came into question. So yeah, trouble indeed.” Sirius straightened up and put the book back.  
“Ah. I see… that is a problem.”  
“Exactly, and I don’t know what to do; originally I asked you here to quell Rabastan by roughing him up a bit before asking him to keep his mouth shut.”  
“And now?”  
“Now too many people know, so it's too late for that idea. He was gloating at the table during lunch which didn’t help.”  
“Myself being a lion won’t be accepted. Could you imagine the outcry! A lion the Prince of snakes” Sirius paused before coming over to sit on the arm of the chair “You have to do it. You have to fight”  
“I’ve never fought before… and what if I lose?” Reg looked up at his brother with a worried expression.  
“You won’t lose, you are a member of the most noble Black family. We are wizarding royalty, the two Princes of the sacred 28 and you are soon to be the Prince of Slytherin” Siri said with forced vigour. Reg knew that Sirius didn’t believe in that kind of thing but he was grateful that his brother was trying for him.  
“So you will help teach me to duel?”  
Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder “If it means that Bella won’t be able to sink her horrendous claws into the school then yes, I will help. How long do we have?”  
Reg sighed “If I’m honest, I don’t know. It’s more than likely to happen this weekend”  
“Fuck”  
“Language” Regulus scowled dishearteningly.  
“Well that doesn’t give us much time to train you and Rab has the upper hand here. He fights a lot with fists and wand” Siri runs his hands across his face.  
“Tell me about it. Why do you think I’ve been trying to find some good hexes” Reg gestures to the heavy book across his lap.  
“Ooohhh no baby bro, you can’t learn how to fight by reading, you need physical practice!” Sirius got up and stood in front of Regulus hand outstretched to pull him out the chair.   
“Those jeans don’t leave much to the imagination you know” he grimaced.  
“I know! That’s the point of them” Siri laughed  
“Ew.”

Sirius took Regulus out of the Library, down a set of stairs and through a few twists of corridors. The further they went the quieter and eerie it became. Regulus had no clue what wing of the castle they were in or even how to get back to the dungeons. Yet his brother seemed to know exactly where he was going. Reg’s heavy book laden bag kept slamming against his thigh as he tried to keep pace until he reached an abandoned classroom.   
“Here we are!” proclaimed Sirius as he unlocked the door and swung it wide open. The sconces on the walls lit up at their entrance, illuminating the tables and chairs scattered around. There was a small raised platform that had a teacher’s desk and a blackboard. It was covered in papers and incantations were written in Latin on the board. It was Lupin’s writing. His scratchy scrawl was very recognisable due to the amount of pranks his brother and friends had pulled. Clearly the papers on the desk were the start of their next big prank.  
“What? Why have you brought me here?” Regulus put his heavy bag down and started to look around the room.  
“To Duel of course” Sirius started to move tables and chairs out of the way. “this room is never used by the way so don’t worry, no-one will come here. It’s a disused part of the castle and McGoogles gave me a key”  
“Why did McGonagall give you a key to here?” Reg turned to his brother that was currently shoving a table to the corner.  
“Because I needed a place to let off steam” Sirius turned to face him and, in that moment, Regulus could see the bitterness and hatred that his brother felt towards their parents, their family and their way of thinking. He opposed it all. Fearsomely. It just made Reg all the more grateful that he was helping him win the very thing he had tried so desperately to remove himself from. Pureblood Aristocracy. A moment passed between them, a mutual understanding that this was the start of their eventual split as family members, but for now, they would still enjoy the precious time they had together as brothers.  
“Right lets get started then”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you may have noticed I've added a few characters to try and not only enhance the story but add backstory to some of the deatheaters in the original works.  
> Pictor Dolohov - OC Younger cousin of Deatheater Antonin Dolohov (Antonin is the same age as Bellatrix so would not have worked but is still part of the story later)  
> Thorfinn Rowle - Original (just adding a backstory to him)  
> Eridanus Travers - Original Travers (but actually giving him a first name and a backstory)


End file.
